Public Development: history

7/26/13

PAMPHLET: "The Decline and Fall of the English System of Finance" by Thomas Paine

The city of Detroit's historic bankruptcy is the perfect occasion to point out again that not all of America's "founding fathers" were enamored with finance-based capitalism.

In the pamphlet below, Tom Paine observes:

"...though all the approaches to bankruptcy may actually exist in circumstances, they admit of being concealed by appearances."

BONUS: In the ongoing debate about whether Thomas Paine was or was not a socialist, the following excerpt from his Agrarian Justice provides some insight:

"Personal property is the effect of society; and it is as impossible for an individual to acquire personal property without the aid of society, as it is for him to make land originally.

Separate an individual from society, and give him an island or a continent to possess, and he cannot acquire personal property. He cannot be rich. So inseparably are the means connected with the end, in all cases, that where the former do not exist the latter cannot be obtained. All accumulation, therefore, of personal property, beyond what a man’s own hands produce, is derived to him by living in society; and he owes on every principle of justice, of gratitude, and of civilization, a part of that accumulation back again to society from whence the whole came."

1/21/12

AUDIO: Sacco and Vanzetti - A Wobbly Perspective

From the August, 2001 Assembly of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or "Wobblies"). Boston Area Branch member Steve Kellerman addressed a crowd at the "War Room" of the Boston Public Library about the life and times of Sacco and Vanzetti, the red-scares and intimidations associated with their trial, an the fascinating anarchist, Italian, and labor movement connections.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

These recordings have been available on radio4all.net since 2001. This version was complied from archive.org.

6/3/11

BOOK: "Our Revolution: Essays on Working-Class & International Revolution, 1904-1917" By Leon Trotsky

We expect modern right-leaning, Tea Party types to lump Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin together in the same totalitarian lodka. But we don't expect, or shouldn't expect, self-professed leftist/progressive types to do the same, right? Alas, too often their ignorance of (or failure to set the record straight about) the actual thoughts, motivations, actions, and differences among these men–to say nothing of the Russian people–is much more harmful than the standard Red-bashing recipe followed by the right-wing.

So let's know what we're talking about...

3/28/11

2/25/11

The Legacy Of The Black Panthers

Spawned by the U.S. civil rights movement of the 60s, the Black Panther Party have been constantly misrepresented. Here ex-members speak for themselves about the work of this great revolutionary party and why they are still so relevant today.

Producer: Reel News | If you find this film useful, please consider making a donation or taking out a subscription to help fund us. visit http://www.reelnews.co.uk

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